A Commander's Christmas
by KorranHalcyon
Summary: Join Squall, Rinoa and the gang as they face their biggest challenge yet: Getting a cranky, Commander Squall Leonhart to appreciate Christmas. The first challenge? Buying a tree! WARNING: Random fluff, humour and holiday cheer will surround you!
1. Chapter 1

Christmas at Balamb was always a joyous affair. Under the many colourful displays and lights, the Garden shone its brightest: the spirit was heavy, the snow lay thick upon the ground and all around there were flyers, adorning festively-decorated walls, that gave information for various festivals, concerts and activities, urging students to come. It was an understatement to say excitement and happiness truly did deck the halls of Balamb Garden.

Well, not exactly everywhere. Turning a corner towards his room, the every solemn Commander, Squall Leonhart, rolled his eyes at a piece of mistletoe and holly. Christmas, while it was the number one season on everyone else's calendar, it wasn't his. Not that he hated the holidays, the Commander simply couldn't find the excitement in blowing his money on people who would more then likely forget about the gift after, possibly, little more then a month and putting heavy effort into decorations only to tear them down again after a few weeks.

_No,_ he thought to himself. _Useless holiday_

This year, however, would be regretfully different. Just as he strode down the hallway, slid his card through the key-code and stepped into his room, an excited shout greeted him.

"Oh good! You're home!" Rinoa Heartily exclaimed excitedly, motioning for him to come over to her. She had been stooping over a large box but had turned around as soon as she heard Squall open the door. "I have something I need to show you!"

"Oh Hyne. If it's another Angelo trick, forget it. We both know he doesn't perform," Squall said, following her across the room as he shrugged his leather coat off onto the sofa. He really had no interest in Angelo tricks.

Last time, Rinoa thought she'd taught him to play dead. When Squall had come back to their room that same night, she was very excited to show him, "Angelo's best trick yet!". However, when it came time to perform, Angelo merely stared vacantly at his mistress. After a few minutes, he put his put a paw up on her lap and then walked away as if confused at what it was he supposed to be doing.

"Hey, you know very well he was just tired!" She exclaimed indignantly, defending the little dog that, ironically, just happened to be asleep now as well. "And no, this has nothing to do with Angelo. It's more important!"

_Oh Hyne, please let it not be that stupid concert Selphie wants us to go to…_

Rinoa then kneeled down beside her black purse and started rummaging through it. "Just a sec. I know it's in here somewhere…" She said, screwing her face up in concentration as she felt around for whatever it was she was looking for.

Squall ran a hand down his face, praying adamantly by now. _Oh dear Hyne, I'll do anything! Just please don't let it be tickets to The Little Chocobo!_

**  
**

"It's right-"

"I'm sick and I can't go!" Squall yelled suddenly. Quickly, he screwed up his face in what was a pathetic attempt to look queasy.

Rinoa looked up, raising a brow in confusion. "What?"

Squall opened an eye and looked confused as well. She was now standing up, holding a piece of paper in her hand that looked suspiciously to him like one of those ridiculous festive fliers that covered just about every square foot of wall space up and down the Quad.

"I'm not asking you to go anywhere," she said, handing him the slip of paper. "I just wanted to show you _this_!"

Squall's face turned slightly red as he took the blue slip of paper and began to read. All signs of embarrassment instantly turned to confusion. "So… What do you want me to do with this?"

"Well," Rinoa said, stammering slightly, "well… Quistis showed me this add while we were having lunch today and told me about how Garden saved money on those huge trees in the Quad and the Lobby. She said we might be – erm – that we might be – erm – interested in-"

But he had already caught on and truthfully, he didn't like where it was going. "No." Squall said, abruptly cutting her off.

"But you didn't even let me finish!" Rinoa insisted.

"No," Squall said as he put up his hand to silence the brunette. "I've never had a Christmas tree in any of my rooms before and I'm not starting this year."

"But that's not fair!" Rinoa gasped. "This is my first year with you and _I'm_ used to_always_ having a Christmas tree around!"

"You're surrounded by Christmas trees, Rin," Squall pointed out. "There's even one down the hall. You can go admire that one."

"But it's not the same as decorating your own! Besides, what am I going to do with all those beautiful decorations I brought with me from Deling?"

"You can help Selphie and Irvine decorate their tree," he suggested casually. "I hear they're short by a lot this yea-"

"No! We're getting a tree Squall! Christmas isn't Christmas without a tree! You're just being a selfish…" She instantly recoiled from the word hanging on the tip of her tongue; her lips were pursed as she glared fiercely at Squall.

Squall tilted his head, and slowly arched a brow. "A selfish what?" He asked slowly. Rinoa nodded but Squall continued trying to coax the word from her smooth, dainty lips. "Come one Rin. Just say what you want and feel better."

"-SCROOGE!" Rinoa shouted fiercely.

Squall drew back a step, his eyes wide. "I am not a Scrooge," he stated. "I just don't buy Christmas trees and I don't intend on breaking that tradition."

"Squall," Rinoa said, her voice lowering dangerously as she took a deliberate step towards him, "I don't care what you haven't done before. This is _Christmas_. And I want to spend my _first_ Christmas with you _happily_: complete with a tree and all!"

"No," Squall said, sighing tiredly. Really, was it that hard for her to understand that he might have his own holiday traditions? "I'm not going to tell you again, Rin. And I don't care how angry you get. I'm not buying a damn Christmas tree. End of discussion!"

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"That will be 35 gil, Mr. Leonhart."

Squall looked away from the handcart where two men where securing the tall, green tree and to the bright, grinning salesman who had just totalled up the cost. _I can't believe I let her talk me into this… _He sighed.After an hour of intense arguing and being driven to the brink of insanity by Rinoa's persistent nagging, his resolve had caved.

Now, he was standing in front of the checkout stand of a large, outdoor tree lot, complete with his leather coat and a persistent snow shower that didn't show any signs of letting up, with a large, shall-branched Noble Fir in tow. _Women…_ He thought bitterly.

"Mr. Leonhart?" The cashier asked warily. Apparently, Squall didn't notice that his eyes had narrowed into an annoyed glareduring his momentary reminisce. "Is everything alright?"

"What?" Squall spat bitterly, turning his piercing gaze on the man.

"Er – umm – err… You're total comes to 35 gil…" The cashier stammered nervously.

"Oh." Squall said, his expression lightening. He wordlessly dug into his wallet, pulled out the correct amount and proceeded to follow the men out the door.

"Merry Christmas!" The cashier called out to his retreating back. Squall did not return the sentiment...

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A/N: Will Squall find the joy of the holidays? Will Rinoa like the tree he bought for her and, more importantly, will the rest of the gang make an appearance? Find out next time in Chapter 2: The Nightmare Five Days Before Christmas! Please review:D


	2. Mr I Hate Shopping

"What do you mean he's not going with us," Sophie's voice shrieked into Rinoa's ear through the telephone. She winced, holding it a foot away from her ear. "Everyone's going!"

"I know," Rinoa sighed, running a hand through her hair, "but he says he's busy and you should've seen him just over getting the Christmas tree last night…"

"But RINNY!" Selphie piped, "Everyone's supposed to go Christmas shopping! Tell Squall to get his butt down here now!"

She heard someone talking on the other end and, by the sound of it, not happy at all. Rinoa again sighed, unsure of what to say. Squall really was being a pain… "Look, Selphie. I don't know what to do about it. You know how he gets. He's difficult and practically like a child and from what I've seen I guess he hates Christmas." She explained sadly.

There was silence for a moment and all she could hear was Selphie whispering something to the group. She narrowed her eyes. "Hello?"

"Hello? Rinny? Are you still there?" Selphie asked, her dismal voice given over to replenished vigour. "Alright, we've decided that we're going to come to your room!"

"Oh no, you don't n-"

"OK, we'll be there in ten minutes. Seifer and Quisty said they need to get something from their room."

"No Selphie you really don't-"

"Okkk, see you then Rinny!"

Before she could get in another word, Selphie had already hung-up. Putting down the phone and closing her eyes, Rinoa shook her head before turning back to the room. _ Oh Hyne… _ She thought.

"What'd they say?" A low, male voice called from the sofa.

Rinoa frowned, walking over to Squall and taking a seat beside him. He was sitting back casually with a black binder beside him, clad in a pair of loose-fitting, grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt, barefoot. "Now they're coming up here." She said, watching him cautiously.

Squall let out an annoyed growl, stomping his naked foot on the ground. "Oh Hyne!" The brunette hissed. He looked around for a moment, as if trying to find the quickest means of an exit, and then back to Rinoa. "Just tell them I'm not here."

"No!" Rinoa exclaimed, standing up from the sofa as quickly as she sat down. "I've already lied for you once, Squall and I'm not going to do it again!"

Squall sighed, standing up as well and turning his back to her. Rinoa frowned, biting her lip. Though he could be very insensitive – like now – she didn't like seeing Squall upset. Not only did he have a horrible temper but when he got into a mood, it was difficult to pull him out of one. As it was, he didn't appear to be over the whole tree argument yet...

"Look," She said as she walked up to him. She smiled up at his pouty face, unwrapping his arms and slowly drew little circles on his chest with her slender fingers. "You don't have to make everything seem so horrible. Look on the bright side, Squall! I'm going – Zell's going, Quistis and Seifer are going, Selphie and Irvine are going! It will be fun!" She exclaimed, punching him lightly on the arm.

"Fun," he snorted sarcastically, "Yea, I'm sure I'll just have oodles of fun with the pervert and his merry duo of annoying chatterboxes."

"Squall!" Rinoa gasped. He turned away from her so that he was facing the window. "I don't care how you feel, you're going Christmas shopping with me!"

"I don't want to…"

Rinoa stopped her circular motions. She brought her hands down from his chest and moved in front of him. "Everyone's going Squall." She said, searching his face for a response. When none came, she let out a huff. "Fine! Be a jerk! Even when I wasn't living here I always found time to go Christmas shopping with everyone. I don't know what your problem is!"

"My problem?" Squall snapped. Rinoa bit her lip: perhaps he wasn't as unreachable as she had first thought. "I don't have a problem, Rin. I just don't want to spend the rest of my day in Balamb!"

"If you're worried about me asking you to go with me to the lingerie department again-"

"I'm not worried about underwear!"

"There's underwear in here?" A deep, amused voice called from the doorway. The couple within turned around and there; heading the group of three was Irvine. The rest were purposely diverting their gazes to various pieces of furniture in the room, red faced and embarrassed.

Selphie smacked him on the arm, her face beet red. "Irvine," she reprimanded.

The cowboy chuckled, raising his arms up in front of him defensively. "What?! I just asked if there's any underwear. We always talk about-"

But Squall, not wanting to hear anymore quickly shot his hand up to cut them off. "How the hell did all of you get in here without a key-card?" He demanded, furious.

"Rinny gave us one!" Selphie piped up energetically. She held up the plastic card hanging harmlessly around her neck on a lanyard. "See?"

Squall smacked his forehead, shaking his head furtively. _ Oh Hyne, this isn't happening… _

Rinoa looked from Squall to Selphie, becoming very nervous by the way the brunette was reacting. The last thing she wanted was another shouting match – especially with all of them involved. "Just leave him alone, guys." She said. She then turned towards the whole group. "So are we all ready to go or what?"

"Yep!" Selphie shouted. "I've got the car out front. Quistis and Seifer are waiting in there for us!"

"Awesome!" Rinoa exclaimed, smiling. She shot a brief glance back at Squall who appeared to be trying to make a discrete exit as he slowly inched towards the bathroom; a wicked though suddenly occurred to her. "Well, we don't want to keep them waiting. Especially the train to Deling!"

Selphie was just about to agree until she mentioned the latter thing. The energetic brunette shot her a confused look. When Rinoa winked, she easily caught on. "Oh yea! It leaves in a few hours. We better get all of this out of the way!"

Irvine and Zell, the only ones out of the loop now looked to Selphie in their confusion who, as well, winked and then it became a group-wide charade.

Squall, meanwhile, stopped in his tracks and turned around, confusion written on his face complete with a frown. "What train?"

"Bye Squall!" Rinoa waved behind her as she grabbed her blue sweater, purse, patted Angelo on the head and headed out. The door closed behind them.

"Wait!" Squall shouted after them. He ran out into the hall, the site of Christmas trees, lights and decorations almost stinging his eyes as he called after their retreating backs. "Rinoa! WHAT TRAIN?"


	3. The Ride Back

The car whizzed quickly by the countryside. Inside the sleek, black, SUV which Selphie had rented from Balamb Town in order to taxi all of them, were boxes and bags stuffed with clothing, electronics, weapons – you name, and it was there!

Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis' attention was diverted to the window where their occasional 'oohhs' and 'awws' filled the van as they marvelled at the countryside. Irvine, who was seated in the passenger's seat, made small talk with Zell about the latest action movie playing in town while Seifer, who was driving, would then make the usual snarky comment about how neither of them were manly enough to see the latest action movie. And amid their bickering, last but not least there was Squall.

Sitting beside Rinoa in the back seat near the window, everything within half a foot radius of the Commander's gaze seemed to be drowned in an unpleasant aura of viciousness and gloom as he sulked silently. He had purposely pressed himself as close to the door in order to distance himself from Rinoa. Because of his anger and genuine unpleasantness, everyone had given up trying to communicate with him and left him to pout.

"Oh Hyne, I can't take this anymore!" Rinoa exclaimed in an annoyed voice after about twenty minutes of complete silence. Their attempts at trying to raise his spirits and then going to simply ignoring him and acting as if he wasn't in the van with them at all didn't seem to work as the mood slowly started to become more and more darker by the minute. Soon they'd all be wearing his sour scowl! "Lighten up Squall," She growled at him. "You're acting like a complete stick in the mud is bringing down everyone's mood. This was supposed to be a fun shopping trip and now you're completely ruining it!"

The blue-eyed brunette looked up from the floor, fixing her with his patented death glare to say the first words he'd spoken the whole three hours they'd been in the car. "Don't tell me to lighten up, Rin," He spat angrily. "This is your fault. You tricked me into coming therefore if everyone else feels like crap then you can start owning up to it yourself."

"Oh you know perfectly well there was no train," She retorted. "Just because you overreacted doesn't make this my fault a bit."

Squall looked up, shooting her an annoyed look. "Oh?" He lofted a brow, "Allow me to refresh you're memory: 'I don't wanna be late for my train!'" He spat the last word out bitterly, which caused Rinoa to involuntarily shudder. "If there was nothing about a train, then what the hell was that about?"

She was silent as she racked her mind for an answer. Before they had gone to Deling, they had waited out in the car for barely five minutes before Squall finally caught up. Apparently, he had only gone back into their room to grab his boots before chasing after them the entire way down to the parking lot, as he was completely barefoot when he'd gotten into the car. However, once he was sufficiently garbed, he immediately set out on some sort of conspiracy theory on the premise that Rinoa really did intend to board a train for Esthar and record an album without his knowledge; and then she'd spend months away with a secret love affair: all this entirely behind his back.

_ Damn, _ she thought, _ I thought he'd have gotten over that idea by now… _ In the past nine hours they had spent out, she firmly believed a little bit of fun and shopping would get his mind off it. Obviously, she thought wrong.

First thing he stepped foot into the large, Deling City Mall, Squall's mood had taken a turn for the worse so that instead of brooding silently, every word anyone said to him was met with a rude, unpleasant comment or just a vicious scowl. Now, it carried on into their return journey.

"You know what," she spat back, just as angrily. "Just because you're so paranoid that you think everyone's plotting behind your back doesn't mean it's really going on. I mean, seriously Squall: a recording and a love affair? That's the most ridiculous explanation for something I've ever heard of!"

"You said-"

But in her fervour, Rinoa cut him off. "And you make everything sound so horrible! Selphie worked hard to arrange this whole trip just so we could all do our Christmas shopping together and hang out and then you turn around and put a damper on it by deciding it's beneath the 'Great Commander Leonhart'!"

That comment earned her bark of laughter from Seifer. "Commander puberty's got attitude," the blonde chided sarcastically as he looked over his shoulder to switch lanes.

Rinoa, who was seething, ignored him. Her sole focus was on Squall. The brunette's face had gone from a frown to mild amusement. "So what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I say you can feel free to drop me off at the next stop," he replied, turning so that he was looking out the window, the same frown returning to his face; Rinoa began to believe that his facial muscles had cramped into that position by default. "I'd be happy to take a cab back to Garden."

Rinoa looked as if she had been slapped while Quistis fixed Squall with a glare that could probably match the ones he'd been sending all of them a few minutes ago. "Squall, stop being such a downer and enjoy the trip home." She said.

Her hair was pinned back in her usual pony-tail, she wore a long, red coat complete with a hood over a white duster and black, stiletto boots. On her face was a severe glare that startled everyone, including Squall. In the past year, she had given up on trying to play the bossy sister and so, he had forgotten what it was like; now, apparently 'Bossy Quistis' had made her grand return and he wasn't used to it a bit.

Squall swallowed, shooting a look at Rinoa who was shooting a dirty look at him as her arms were crossed over her chest. "I just want to be left alone," he sighed.

"Hey, as much as I'd hate to interrupt," Seifer broke in. He was sitting casually in the front seat, tapping his fingers contentedly on the wheel, "We're at Garden now."

"Then unlock the door," Irvine said, raising his arms over his head as he yawned. "I'm sick of hearing these two love-birds bickering."

"Me too!" Zell replied. He began fighting his way over Selphie towards the door. "Selphie, move."

"I can't! You're pinning me into the seat," she breathed, adverting her face away from his knee as the high-strung blonde now attempted to climb over her.

"Everyone be quiet!" Rinoa yelled; on her command the car fell silent and all five friends stopped in their tracks. "No one's going anywhere until Squall can make nice and apologize," She stressed. She turned to Squall who was sitting in stunned silence, an incredulous expression on the brunette's face as he simply stared at Rinoa. She might as well have punched him.

Now, with everyone desperate to get out of the van, there were two things he could've done: The most logical would have been to fake an apology that would satisfy Rinoa or simply be stubborn and say nothing. Considering that option number one he found to be the most beneath his dignity, he chose option number two.

"I've got nothing to say," he growled, his vicious glare settling upon all of them. If he had to spend another minute with the five of them, he was going to slash somebody with his gunblade!

Rinoa merely sat back into her seat. "Then we're not going anywhere," she huffed.

"Says you," Seifer snorted. He pressed his own unlock button, opened his door and jumped out. Looking back in, he proclaimed in a booming voice, "I don't know about all of you, but I'm sure as hell not staying in the in that car another minute just because Commander Puberty needs an attitude adjustment."

The rest then followed suit. "I'm out." Irvine stated. He too opened the passenger door and jumped out. Rinoa looked around at her friends, aghast as they filed out around her.

"Heeyy! Wait up, Irvy!" Selphie piped. In her haste, the high-strung brunette slammed the door behind her as she went skipping after the auburn-haired cowboy.

"Selphie, don't close the door, I'm right behind-" But Zell was too late. The door smacked into his face and immediately, a loud 'CRACK!' could be heard throughout the car followed by profuse cursing. He pulled the handle and opened the door for himself. "Damnit Sophie! You're gonna pay for that!"

"Tee-hee! You can't catch me!" Selphie's giggling voice resounded as she ran off into the Garden, Zell hot on her heels. Irvine merely sighed tiredly before chasing after them.

Now Quistis, Squall and Rinoa were the only ones left. She had just finished unfastening her seatbelt and scampered over to the open door when Rinoa's pleading voice called to her.

"Please, Quisty," the ebon-haired, 21-year-old pleaded.

Quistis was now in a rut. Damn, she cursed inwardly. She threw a longing look towards the door then looked back at Rinoa; it was either freedom or be subjected to more of their bickering. _ We really should've left him alone, _ she decided, cringing.

"Well, I – err- I… well, umm… you know… Rinoa…" She stammered. "Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is… erm…"

"Quisty, will you hurry your little butt up in there?" Seifer's irritated voice called from outside, "I've got a present for you but I suppose I can just throw it away if you're not going to take other into consideration and-"

"Good luck!" And with that, she rushed out of the van leaving Squall and Rinoa alone.

Rinoa frowned, and then turned back to Squall who was already working on his seatbelt. Her eyes narrowed; she may not have been able to control the rest of them (though she liked to think she could) but she could sure as hell make Squall stay in that seat if she really wanted to. And she did!

"Hold it, Squall!" She yelled. The brunette stopped in his tracks, his hands flying off the buckle as he unfastened the seatbelt. "I'm not done with you!"

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! You don't know how much that inspires me:)

Alright, so I realize that Squall's a bit of an underdog in this story but that's ok because he is. I kind of liked the idea of him being conspired against by the whole group to do something he doesn't like and that's what this is about!

Next chapter: Enter The Little Chocobo! Read and review :)


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